ACLARA Biosciences, Inc. v. Caliper Technologies Corp.

ORDER DENYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Now before the Court is the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in light of the Federal Circuit’s opinion in Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd., 234 F.3d 558 (Fed.Cir.2000) (en banc). Having carefully considered the parties’ papers and with the benefit of oral argument on December 7, 2000, the defendant’s motion is hereby DENIED.

BACKGROUND

The plaintiff ACLARA BioSeiences, Inc. (“ACLARA”) brought the present suit for infringement of U.S.Patent No. 5,750,015 (“the ’015 patent”) against the defendant Caliper Technologies Corp. (“Caliper”). The Court has described the technology claimed by the ’015 patent in some detail in previous orders, see, e.g., Claim Construction Order (“Markman Order”), July 17, 2000; Order Regarding Summary Judgment (“Summary Judgment Order”), Oct. 27, 2000, and will only review the invention here briefly to the extent necessary to decide the present motion.

As a result of this Court’s earlier orders, ACLARA is now asserting only Claim 1 of the ’015 patent. That claim reads as follows:

In its Markman Order and its Summary Judgment Order, the Court interpreted the phrase “a plurality of electrodes…